


i want to gather all the pretty words for you

by pinwheeled



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: M/M, a bad shot at trying to sound poetic, fluff and nothing else, you know the drill
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-28
Updated: 2018-02-28
Packaged: 2019-03-25 05:51:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13827855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pinwheeled/pseuds/pinwheeled
Summary: It's a feeling he won't be able to read in a book, but maybe, just maybe, he'll be able to hear it from Wonwoo's lips instead.





	i want to gather all the pretty words for you

Mingyu hums along to whatever tune he can think of, bored out of his wits on a lazy Thursday afternoon. It's a slow day for the bookstore, with only 2 customers since opening. He bends over the counter and fiddles with the display of bookmarks on sale. From that position, he slumps onto the counter, and slowly drifts to sleep, lulled by the warm sun shining through the glass doors.

 

He wakes up with a jolt when someone taps him softly on the crown of his head. "Oh god, sorry! How may I help you?" His head snaps up to come face to face with a guy who has a blank expression on, and a voice as low as his own. "I'm looking for the special edition novel..."

 

Mingyu scratches his head in annoyance as he combs through the shelves, and the customer stands patiently by his side. "I'm really, really sorry. I know I have it around here somewhere, but I can't seem to find it," he sighs, and tells the customer to come back the next day, he'll find it by then. Said customer nods, his face remaining expressionless, and he leaves the shop. Mingyu, feeling tired and annoyed, decides to call it a day and resumes his lethargic form by the counter.

 

The next morning, Mingyu finds himself surrounded by books, all strewn across the floor, just so he can find the book for yesterday's customer. He doesn't know why he's so determined, but then again, he only has this many customers, and he's a lousy staff member if he doesn't try to please all of them. An hour or two after opening, he hears footsteps approaching him at the back of the store, and he turns around with the standard, "Hello, how may I help you?" before he realises it's the same customer from yesterday. This time, he's wearing glasses, and it makes him look a little more approachable. _Maybe because he looks kinda cute in them_ , Mingyu thinks.

 

"Did you find it?"

 

Mingyu shakes his head sadly, and pours as he tells the customer maybe he should just look for it elsewhere. The customer just nods his head and says he'll come back after a week if he still hasn't found it. Mingyu mumbles another apology and sends the guy off with a smile and wave. The male turns back just as he steps out of the entrance, and Mingyu just catches a ghost of a smile on his face, corners of his lips quirked up slightly, eyes softening. Mingyu thinks it's beautiful.

 

Fuelled by the desire of not disappointing the customer if he ever comes back, Mingyu searches for the book in earnest, and he even turns down an offer of a day to rest, just because it's been four days and he's barely through a third of the books. He comes early for work and leaves late, and he spends his lazy afternoons reading through titles, and flipping through books that look interesting. Maybe that's why he takes so long to look for the book in question. Mingyu has never read through so many first chapters in the entire time he's been working at the store, and he silently thanks the customer for exposing him to a world of literature he wouldn't have bothered to enter.

 

By the time seven days have passed, Mingyu's done with the entire store, because he stayed overnight two nights before to clear one shelf. In the end, he found it on the second last shelf he searched, and he proudly puts the book on the countertop while he reads another fiction novel that he found on the sixth shelf that's about artificial intelligence and a dystopian society. When the bells on the door chime, he barely looks up, because the protagonist is currently trying to escape from a high-technology prison and he's inches away from danger at every turn- 

 

"Hey there."

 

Mingyu almost drops his book in surprise at the sound of the familiar voice. He thought he would've forgotten it after only having heard it twice before and a week ago at least, but the melodious ring to that customer's low baritone was never really forgotten.

 

"You haven't found the book?" Mingyu asks, cocking his head to the side. It shouldn't be hard to find online, after all. Maybe the customer is lazy to fill in the forms for delivery. "Well, either way, I found it. I really swept through all the shelves, and I finally found it!" The customer look up at him in wide eyes, and his lips slowly curve into a smile. "Thank you. What's your name? You're really nice," he says, picking the book up and flipping through the pages gently. "I'm Mingyu. What about you?" "My name is Wonwoo. Should I buy the book?"

 

Mingyu raises his eyebrows incredulously. After making him sift through all the books in this store - and it's not a small amount, mind you - only to leave the book here? Wonwoo seems to understand Mingyu's train of thought, and chuckles. "No, I mean, I spent my allowance on my brother's birthday present. I'm thinking if I should buy it now or next month." Mingyu lets out an "oh" before picking the book from his hands. "If you promise to keep this in top condition, I'll let you borrow it. But if you damage it, I'll charge you."

 

Wonwoo's smile widens into a grin, and Mingyu can't help but smile back.

 

"You have a deal."

 

Wonwoo decides to leave the book in the store and drop by almost every afternoon to read it. Mingyu finds satisfaction in watching the other read, eyes flitting through the lines, glasses perched on the bridge of his nose. As the days pass, they grow accustomed to each other's presence, and they share more and more about themselves. Wonwoo has a brother, and Mingyu has a sister. Wonwoo is a cat person, but Mingyu is a dog person. Wonwoo like rainy days, while Mingyu loves the sun. They're different, but they fit together nicely.

 

One day, when Mingyu doesn't know how to stop the fondness towards the other, he reaches up to fix a stray tuft of hair on Wonwoo's head. The latter freezes, and turns a violent shade of pink. Mingyu retracts his hand quickly, wondering if he's done anything wrong. The other male stares intently into his eyes, as if trying to figure him out. Mingyu thinks the other must be suffering from really bad myopia if he hasn't seen all the signs so far. All the gentle smiles and soft touches, the red dusting the tips of his ears and the the thundering of his pulse. Somewhere along the third and fourth hundred page, Mingyu fell in love with Wonwoo.

 

When Wonwoo finally flips to the fifth hundred and twenty-sixth page, he heaves a heavy sigh, and closes the book. "You're done? You're a very slow reader," Mingyu comments from the counter, and Wonwoo looks over from his spot at the corner. A week ago, Mingyu had brought a beanbag for him, and Wonwoo accused him for making him want to visit the store every day just to indulge in his love for soft fluffy beanbags. Of course, seeing Mingyu was an added bonus. Mingyu scoffed at that.

 

"Am I, now," Wonwoo offers a wry smile as he sets the book on the counter, and leans his arms on the countertop, meeting Mingyu's gaze. 

 

"Very. I finished almost two books while you were on that one, and mine are of the Harry Potter Series, so you have no excuses."

 

Wonwoo laughs, and Mingyu finds himself smiling wide at the way the other's nose scrunches up when he does so. 

 

"You're an idiot if you really think I'm that slow, Mingyu."

 

Said male furrows his eyebrows, and rests his chin on his palm, "Explain."

 

"I'll be honest. I actually bought the book two days after I came here the first time looking for it. I had an assignment due on it, and I had to get my hands on it, so I bought it online."

 

"And you _still_ left me to search everything? You're a mean, mean liar, Wonwoo." Mingyu pouts, feeling a little - really, really little - bit of anger seep through his veins. Wonwoo smiles again. "You looked so determined. It was cute," he laughs lightly, "and anyway, you starting reading so many good books. It's a win-win, isn't it?"

 

Mingyu is about to retort, but he supposes that the other is right. He wouldn't have opened so many books if it weren't for Wonwoo.

 

"And then why did you come here and read it anyway? Why not just tell me?" 

 

Wonwoo snorts, "You really are oblivious. You really think I would've come here almost every day just to read the book? Okay, maybe, if you had added that beanbag from the start."

 

Mingyu frowns, and huffs impatiently, "Stop speaking in riddles, just tell me directly already." 

 

Telling Wonwoo, a literature major, not to speak in riddles? That's as good as not speaking at all. But Wonwoo guesses he could make an exception for this tall, blubbering idiot who is Mingyu.

 

"I like you. Since I came here the second day and you pouted at me. Maybe I started liking you from the moment I saw you from outside the store. Maybe you're the reason why I even stepped in, to find a special edition book in a small bookstore which probably doesn’t even hold it. And I came back every time because I wanted to see you. Do you know how hard it was to stay away for one whole week? But I guess I was well rewarded after that. Anyway, you were never the added bonus to my visits, you were practically the sole reason."

 

Mingyu gapes at Wonwoo while the other is talking, and he continues opening and closing his mouth like a goldfish from the lack of an appropriate response. Wonwoo chuckles and holds Mingyu's chin between his thumb and index finger, "Now, will you tell me if I've been misunderstanding the looks you've been giving me and the atrocious amount of blushing you've been doing for the past month?"

 

Mingyu can only manage to croak out, "I don't know what to say." _That is totally helpful_ , Mingyu snorts internally. 

 

"Then I'm going to just kiss you."

 

Mingyu nods dumbly after some hesitation, not quite processing what's going on. He just got to the point that Wonwoo likes him. Everything after is a blur.

 

In the small bookstore where Mingyu spends his lazy Thursday afternoons napping, he is opened up to a whole new world of literature, feelings, and pretty words. A world where Wonwoo fits into his arms seamlessly, behind the counter, reading a novel together. Where every smile they share feels like the fluttering feeling of opening a new book, and every time they part ways after closing feels like the dull ache after finishing a story. Mingyu realises that they're their very own story, and they both want to write it as beautiful, as amazing, as they both experience it, and Mingyu struggles to express what he feels and sees when he's with Wonwoo. He finally settles with the thought that he just wants to pick all the pretty words for Wonwoo, and his vocabulary is quite limited. He doesn't need to worry, though, because Wonwoo can help him with that.

 

Mingyu smiles into the kiss. 

 

It's a feeling he won't be able to read in a book, but maybe, just maybe, he'll be able to hear it from Wonwoo's lips instead.

 

**Author's Note:**

> hello this is another one of my old works!!! comments and feedback are greatly appreciated huehue


End file.
